August 22nd, 1942 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMS Mandrake launched.
GERMANY:
U-419 launched.
U-227 and
U-449 commissioned.
POLAND: Lwow: 75,000 Jews have been deported to Belzec since 10 August.
U.S.S.R.: Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Shipping loss: MS "TSch-405 "Vzrivatel"" - by field artillery, close to Eupatoria (later raised) (Sergey Anisimov)(69)
Stalingrad: German paratroopers landing behind Soviet lines are massacred.
The advance of the German 17.Armee (Ruoff) toward the Black Sea port of Suchum west of the Caucasus bogs down. A platoon of 1.Gebirgs-Division hoists the German war flag on the top of Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in the Caucasus.
U-456 found
the motor boat Chaika anchored off the Matyuschev Isle west of the Matochkin
Strait and at 2300 took her in tow unnoticed by the Soviets. After searching the
boat she was sunk by scuttling charges. Nothing valuable was found except of
four infantry guns.
NEW GUINEA: The 18th Australian Brigade lands at Milne Bay. Allied troops in the Milne Bay area now numbered more than 8,800 and the fighting at Milne Bay resulted in the first defeat of a Japanese amphibious landing in WWII.
Major-General Clowes takes command of Milne Force which stands at 1,365 men.
(Michael Mitchell)
In the air, USAAF B-17s of the Allied Air Forces B-17s
bomb the airfield at Lae.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: The first USAAF aircraft, 5 P-400
Airacobras of the 67th Fighter Squadron, 58th Fighter Group, based on New
Caledonia Island, New Hebrides, arrive at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island,
joining USMC aircraft which arrived earlier; these P-400s, which operate under
control of Marine Aircraft Wing One (MAW-1), prove no match for Japanese Zekes
or bombers at high altitudes.
The USN destroyers USS Blue (DD-387) and USS Henley
(DD-391), trying to intercept Japanese reinforcements heading for Guadalcanal,
run into the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Kawakaze, whose night-fighting experience
outperforms the Americans' radar. The Blue is torpedoed at 0359 hours local and
throughout the 22nd and 23rd, unsuccessful attempts are made to tow her to
Tulagi. She was scuttled at 2221 on 23 August 1942. Kawakaze escapes unscathed.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF B-17s of the Allied Air
Forces B-17s bomb the airfields at Rabaul on New Britain Island.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutians: A photo reconnaissance mission over Kiska Island by the US 11th Air Force is aborted due to overcast.
U.S.A.: "Cow-Cow Boogie" by Freddie Slack and his Orchestra featuring Ella Mae Morse on vocal, was released on today. It was on the charts for 2 weeks and reached Number 9.
Light fleet carrier USS Independence launched.
Corvette USS Intensity is launched.
Frigate USS Asheville (ex-HMS Adur) launched.
Destroyer escort USS Brennan launched.
Corvette USS Haste launched.
Destroyer USS Ingraham sank after a violent collision with the Navy oil tanker
USS Chemung in pea-soup fog off the coast of Nova Scotia. The Ingraham was part
of Task Force 37 escorting Convoy AT-20 to the United Kingdom. An internal
explosion caused the ship to blaze from stem to stern. It was all over in a
flash, the burning wreck vanishing beneath the waves taking the lives of 218 of
her crew. There were only 11 survivors, one officer and 10 ratings all rescued
by the Chemung's boat crews.
CARIBBEAN SEA: The German submarine U-654 is sunk north of Colon, in position 12.00N, 79.56W, by depth charges from a US 6th Air Force B-18
Bolo based at France Field, Canal Zone. All hands on the U-boat, 44-men, are lost.
BRAZIL declares war on Germany and Italy. This follows a week of anti-Nazi rioting following the recent sinking of six Brazilian ships by Axis submarines. The declaration was made after a meeting between President Getulio Vargas and his cabinet this afternoon, and the country's armed forces were ordered to prepare for "sacrifices until death." Though no explanation was given as to why Japan was not included in the declaration, it is unofficially pointed out that Japan has not committed any acts of aggression towards Brazil.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-507 sank neutral Swedish SS Hammaren in Convoy OS-36.